Israel-Gaza updates: Nasser Hospital no longer 'functional,' WHO chief says

Israel Defense Forces turned the hospital into military barracks.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: February 19, 2024, 4:03 AM EST

More than four months since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip.

The conflict, now the deadliest between the warring sides since Israel's founding in 1948, shows no signs of letting up soon and the brief cease-fire that allowed for over 100 hostages to be freed from Gaza remains a distant memory.

Click here for updates from previous days.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Mar 1, 6:03 am

What we know about the conflict

The latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, has passed the four-month mark.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 30,228 people have been killed and 71,377 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.

In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

There has also been a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed at least 395 people in the territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The ongoing war began after Hamas-led militants launched an unprecedented incursion into southern Israel from neighboring Gaza via land, sea and air. Scores of people were killed while more than 200 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, a 140-square-mile territory where more than 2 million Palestinians have lived under a blockade imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt since Hamas came to power in 2007. Gaza, unlike Israel, has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters.

Feb 12, 2024, 9:09 AM EST

Israel knew location of 2 rescued hostages in Gaza for weeks, source says

The location of two hostages rescued early Monday from the Gaza Strip was known for weeks, but the special operation was delayed several times due to fears it would cost the hostages their lives, an Israeli source told ABC News.

It took Israeli forces about 40 minutes from the time they entered the building in Rafah in southern Gaza, where the two hostages were being held, to placing them on a helicopter that flew them out of the area, according to the Israeli source.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor

Feb 12, 2024, 9:00 AM EST

Netanyahu vows 'continued military pressure, until total victory'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday hailed the military's announcement that two Israeli hostages were rescued from the war-torn Gaza Strip.

"Fernando and Louis, welcome home," Netanyahu said in a statement. "I salute our brave fighters for the daring action that led to their release. Only continued military pressure, until total victory, will bring about the release of all of our hostages."

"We will not miss any opportunity to bring them home," he added.

The two hostages -- Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70 -- were among those kidnapped in southwestern Israel and taken across the border to Gaza amid the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attack. They were rescued during a special operation in Rafah in southern Gaza early Monday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Rescued Israeli-Argentinian hostage Fernando Simon Marman is reunited with his family at the Tel Hashomer Hospital in Ramat Gan, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 12, 2024.
Israel Defense Forces/AFP via Getty Images

Rescued Israeli-Argentinian hostage Louis Har is reunited with his family at the Tel Hashomer Hospital in Ramat Gan, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 12, 2024.
Israel Defense Forces/AFP via Getty Images

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor

Feb 12, 2024, 12:41 AM EST

IDF spokesperson details hostage rescue

Members of the Israeli forces that saved two hostages from Rafah, shielded the hostages from gunfire with their own bodies during the rescue operation, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari told reporters during a briefing early Monday morning.

"Police SWAT team members protected the hostages with their own bodies" during the firefight that ensued when Israeli forces entered the room where the hostages were being held, Hagari said.

The rescue operation began at 1:49 a.m. local time on Monday, when IDF forces "breached the building," he said. Armed Hamas militants were on the second floor, Hagari told reporters.

Israeli forces had been preparing for the operation to save the two hostages "for a while," Hagari said.

-ABC News' Dana Savir

Feb 11, 2024, 9:43 PM EST

2 hostages rescued from Gaza: IDF

Two male hostages were rescued from Gaza, the IDF said in a briefing early Monday morning local time. The hostages are both alive and in "good medical condition," the IDF said in a release.

The two hostages -- Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70 -- are back in Israel and were brought to Sheba Tel Hashomer hospital, the IDF said. They were both kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on Oct. 7.

The special operation to rescue the two hostages from Rafah in Gaza started around 1 a.m. local time, IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht told reporters during a briefing early Monday morning.

"The two hostages were rescued from the second floor of a residential building in Rafah," Hecht said. The forces breached the building "with a charge," Hecht said.

Hecht added that air cover was provided, and there was also fire to the surrounding buildings.

Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70
PHOTO: BringThemHome website

-ABC News' Dana Savir

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